Strictly Professional
by Chavien
Summary: "Just as I expected," Xandra huffed. "I knew you two had some sort of history." Brynn/Hanso.
1. nightmares

This idea sort of came to me while I was eating breakfast, heh. This is pre-TFR, though I'm planning to take this story into TFR too. We'll see what my indecisive mind will come to. I hope you'll enjoy, for the time being :)

* * *

Finally. Her shift was over. It had been a long day for Brynn, especially since the blue Ixi thief decided that today would be one of those days where he would be caught, handcuffed, put into the dungeon, escape within the hour, and have it happen several times throughout the day. She swore that he did that at times just to get on her nerves.

"Hey, Brynn."

Her head turned to see Markos walking towards her. He was a yellow Gelert and a fellow guard, a few years older than she was.

"Hey."

"Need someone to walk you home tonight?"

"I can take care of myself. Thank you for the offer, though," she said as she walked through the arches of the castle.

"See you tomorrow then, Brynn."

She looked back and smiled. "See you."

As much as Brynn liked being a guard, it was tiring and overwhelming at times. All she wanted to do was to take a hot shower and go to sleep. She didn't even have the energy to eat right now.

* * *

Brightvale was a busy place. Not as hectic as it would have been during the afternoon, but there were still people bustling about. Some lights were on in the houses; she always admired the colored lights through the stained glass. She usually woke up far too early to be able to see the sunrise shining through the glass – and on the days she was off from work, she'd be sleeping in. Nightfall was the only chance she really got to take in the beauty of the glass.

Her keys nearly touched the lock as a hand clapped onto her shoulder, making her jump.

"Hanso!" she scowled. "Don't do that. Do you _want_ to get thrown back into the dungeon?"

"Hi Brynn!" he said cheerfully, ignoring her threat.

"What do you want?" she sighed. She wasn't in the mood to argue.

"Sleep with me tonight?"

"What?"

"Sleep with me."

She gave him an incredulous look in response.

"Oh, you're dirty," he grinned, raising his eyebrows and nudging her.

"That's not what I meant!" She hit him in the arm.

* * *

Somehow, he managed to convince her to stay over at his place. His reasoning was that he was getting nightmares, and the only way to make them stop was to have someone over to sleep with. The Kougra frowned at her decision. She expected herself to say no in a heartbeat, which she did. But Hanso kept on talking to her, persuading her to stay.

"_We're friends, aren't we?"_

"_I… Yeah." She actually wasn't sure if she would consider him as a friend, but he was the closest thing to one._

"_Friends wouldn't leave friends alone in a time of need." He was doing the puppy dog eyes, again. She made the mistake of letting him go with the puppy dog eyes, once. She wasn't falling for it another time._

"_Hanso, you call this a time of need?"_

"_Yes," he said with a pout. "Please?"_

"…_Fine."_

_His pout changed into a cheesy smile. "See, I knew you'd come through for me!"_

"_Just this once. Don't even think about asking me to do this again. And don't you dare let anyone know."_

"_Don't worry," the Ixi reassured._

His place wasn't as bad as she thought it'd be. It was small, a little dirty in some places, but he called it home.

Hanso was cleaning the chairs around the small table in the kitchen. "Here hun, put your things here." He looked away sheepishly. "Sorry it's not so clean; I don't really have the time for that."

"That's fine," Brynn said. She put her belongings onto the chair. "You have a shower here?"

Hanso rolled his eyes. "Of course I do. I'm not _that_ uncivilized."

Brynn smirked at him. "I never said you were."

* * *

When Brynn stepped out of the bathroom, she was greeted by the warm smell of food. It made her think of home, when her mother would make warm soups and stews that were perfect on chilly nights. She missed home. The only time that she would be able to visit was around the holidays and sometimes on the weekends if she wasn't too tired. She made the decision to move into the busier section of Brightvale, since it was closer to the castle. Staying at home with her family would be far too inconvenient for her to travel to work.

Hanso was busy setting the table, though there wasn't really much to it – just two simple stoneware bowls filled with lentil stew, accompanied by Altadorian bread in the center of the table… All of which he probably stole. He looked up with a smile. "Took you long enough."

"I didn't know you could cook."

He just chuckled. "Sweetheart, I live alone. I have to know how to cook for myself. Let's eat though, I'm getting hungry."

* * *

"You go to sleep first, darling. Take the bed. I still have to shower."

Brynn's mind started to wander as soon as she got comfortable under his sheets. When did he start calling her these pet names, anyway? It was annoying. Did he call every girl like that? She hoped not. Wait, what? What on Neopia was she thinking? She was in a thief's home, for that matter. Why was she so willing to stay at his place? Did she trust him? She wasn't supposed to. His bed was so comfortable, much more comfortable than the one she slept in every night. Were all thieves' beds this comfortable? A guard, at a thief's home…!

She must've been asleep for a while, but she felt the bed shift. Her eyes flew open, and she shot straight up.

"Hanso!" she hissed, throwing the covers off. "What in Neopia are you doing?!"

The Ixi was halfway on his bed. "Going to sleep?"

"This is_ wrong_! Get out!"

"Don't worry about it, darling." he said with a cheeky smile. He pulled the covers on and inched closer to her. "It's only us two here. Nobody will find out."

"Get out."

"Really, sweetie? After all we've been through?"

"I'm leaving," she warned.

"I thought we were closer than that."

She just glared at him.

"Fine," he grumbled as he swung his feet off the bed, making his way to the couch. "You're no fun anyway."

"Nobody said I was."

* * *

"Brynn?" came a voice from the darkness.

The Kougra shifted around towards the direction of the voice. "What?"

"Why do you trust me?"

She thought for a moment. "I don't."

Silence.

"Why not?"

"I'm a guard and you're a thief. That's just the way things are, Hanso."


	2. good morning

I feel like this chapter is too short, compared to the last one.

Also, does anyone else wipe their hands on their shirt or jeans to dry them?

* * *

Brynn woke up early the next morning, before the sun rose. She was confused with her surroundings for a split second, before remembering that she agreed to sleep at Hanso's for the night. His bed was so warm and comfortable, but she had to force herself to get up.

Quietly, she lifted the covers off, made the bed and was about to head to the bathroom when –

"Ow!"

She stubbed her toes into the frame of his bed, and curled them in pain.

"You're so clumsy, Brynn," Hanso's sleepy voice said, muffled from his blanket.

She turned red, though there probably wasn't enough light for Hanso to see. "I-it's not my fault that you have your things all over the place."

"But I don't."

"Shut up."

* * *

'_What was I thinking…_' she thought again, as the hot water from the shower head pounded on her back. If anyone found out about this, her job would be in serious jeopardy. Hell, she might even get fired… The things she did for that stupid Ixi. She thought about the countless times that she had caught him stealing, yet let him go anyway. They weren't even friends. Well, sort of, but not really.

There was a point in time when she thought she had affectionate feelings for the little thief. He would sometimes slip a rock into one of her pockets when she caught him – not any kind of rock, but the pretty ones from the street vendors that were sometimes solid, sometimes translucent, and came in all sorts of colors. Some of them had little colored veins running through them; others had vague, etched markings on them.

The vendor said that they were actually tumbled sea glass, not rocks, picked up from the shores of Neopia. She liked them, because it reminded her of stained glass. And it made her happy, even though they were most likely bought it with neopoints that he'd stolen. She was about fourteen years old, maybe fifteen. Markos found out and had convinced her that it was just a phase she was going through. She ended up telling Hanso to stop, because buying things with stolen neopoints was wrong. Sure, she felt bad about telling him off like that. But it was the right thing to do.

She had brushed those feelings off years ago, locked them in a corner of her mind, and threw away the key. Were they slowly seeping back out? …Nah, couldn't be. It's not like those were actual feelings, anyway. It was probably the stew that Hanso made last night that tugged on her heartstrings, because it reminded her of home. Yeah. That had to be it.

After all, she was a guard and he was a thief.

* * *

"I made breakfast for you, Brynn!"

Hanso was unusually cheery as he placed her plate on the table and motioned for her to sit. It was the same Altadorian bread from last night, but toasted, and spread with marmalade from Mystery Island. She sat on the chair and carefully munched on the toast. Hanso was across from her, chin down on his forearms, watching her. His portion lay untouched on a plate, in front of him. That was strange; he always had a big appetite. And why was he watching her eat?

"If I weren't a thief, would you trust me?"

There was an awkward silence for a moment. Brynn picked up her now empty plate and gave it a quick rinse in the sink. She wiped her hands on her trousers to dry them (it was a habit that she picked up from her father; her mother always gave her 'that face' when she did that) and picked up her knapsack. Before leaving, she turned her head to Hanso.

"I have to go now."

* * *

It was still dark outside, though Brynn could see faint pastel clouds being colored by the rising sun when she neared the castle. She always wondered why the clouds were especially colorful at dawn and dusk… Maybe it had something to do with the tiny faeries that fluttered around at sunrise and sunset?

"Have a good day at work, sweetheart."

She turned around to see Hanso. "Were you following me?"

"I was protecting you."

She pretended to scowl, but it turned into a warm, genuine smile. Something that she hadn't given anyone, except for her family.

"Hanso?"

"Hmmm..?"

"Stay out of trouble, will you?"

"No promises," he said with his trademark grin.


	3. marmalade

As Brynn entered the castle, she was greeted by a few people who were there already. Some of them were King Hagan's personal servants and guards, who already lived in the castle with their families; others were like her, who traveled to and from work. On occasion, King Hagan would be near the entrance of the castle early in the morning to check if there were any problems within in castle, or maybe to chat. He was usually seen with a thick book tucked under his arm, and it was a different one every time.

When Brynn was younger, before she joined the guards, she always thought King Hagan was one of "those" kings – the ones that always had that air of haughtiness around them and expected you to bow every time he crossed your path. He was actually very easygoing – unless of course, you had a book that he'd never seen before. Or if you challenged him with something he didn't know, and it turned out that he actually did.

She saw the king walk towards her. "Good morning, King Hagan," she said with a slight bow.

"Brynneth, how many times do I have to tell you how unnecessary that is?" he asked with a chuckle. "This is not my kingdom alone; this is the kingdom of every citizen's collaborative efforts," he said, walking away. He stopped and turned around. "Oh, and good morning to you too."

Even though King Hagan considered everyone who worked with him as acquaintances, she always had the habit of treating him with more respect than the other people she knew.

The Kougra made her way to what was called the mudroom. It was a place where everyone stored their belongings for the day, or for several days – they just had to make sure to clear their belongings on the last day of every month, because the maids would clean the room out to ensure that it never got too messy or dirty. She never really understood why it was called a mudroom anyway.

"So," Markos said casually, as Brynn unlocked her space. "I see you've been hanging out with that _thief _again."

She ignored him.

"Don't think I don't know."

'_Shit,' _she thought._ 'Did he see me walking with Hanso last night?' _She backtracked for a bit._ 'Okay, I left the castle first… Was he following me? Oh no. He probably did. He saw me. He definitely saw me walking to his house with him and –'_

"I saw you talking to him right outside the castle just now."

A wave of relief washed over her. "Oh."

"'_Oh'_? Seriously Brynn, you are a –"

Taric, an ice Cybunny, must've overheard their conversation, because he came right to Markos' side. "Something going on between you and that thief you're always catching?"

"No," Brynn said flatly.

* * *

Today, Brynn was assigned to the area around Brightvale Armoury and Fruits of Brightvale. Even though it was crowded and most of the crimes took place here, she liked it because that's where most of the street vendors were. Brynn's shift was nearly over now; she had broken up two fights earlier, and the rest of her day went fairly smooth. There was no sight of Hanso as well, which she was relieved about – not because she was worried, but because she didn't have to deal with him for today.

She went over to one of the vendors that had travelled all the way from Mystery Island, and asked for the orange marmalade. It was expensive here because Mystery Island was quite a distance to Brightvale – a ship ride, two trains, and a long walk to be precise – but she decided that it was worth it. She was about to pay the Bori behind the stand, when she saw a glimpse of blue fur, stuffing something in his pockets…

The familiar face noticed that she noticed him, proceeded to give her a cheesy smile, and broke out into a run.

She quickly put down the jar of orange preserves with a dull_ thud_. "I'm sorry, sir – I'll be back!" She, too, broke out into a run. "Hanso!"

Hanso made a sharp turn, but she was already too familiar with his tactics to be tricked. Brynn pounced on his back, making both of them fall over.

"Did you run just to give me a hug, sweetheart?"

She got up, and sighed with exasperation. "Really, Hanso?"

He just smiled in response and extended his hand. She pulled him up.

"What'd you steal this time?"

"Marmalade."

At this point, their routine was like second nature. Brynn didn't even have to handcuff him anymore; he would willingly walk back to the castle with her to be put in the dungeon. She went back to the Bori first, and paid for the marmalade.

"It was for you, actually."

"Why?"

"I figured you liked it from this morning, so I thought I'd have some extra on hand whenever you come over."

She felt bad for what she was obligated to do, but chose to ignore all but the last part of his sentence. "I thought we made it clear that yesterday would be the first and last time I would come over."

There was total silence, except for the sound of their footsteps and the occasional wind blowing through the trees and grass.

"Why don't you just get a job, Hanso? Instead of stealing?"

"It's easier said than done, especially when you've been stealing for practically your whole life."

"So why did you choose to steal in the first place?"

"Because I had to. I didn't have parents to take care of me or give me food, like everyone else."

She didn't know what to say after that, so she kept her gaze at the cobblestone path as they walked towards the castle.

* * *

a/n: Thumbs up to you, if you know where I got Taric from ;)


End file.
